Widow’s delight at MBE ‘for benefit of campaign’
LIZZIE JONES is delighted to have been awarded an MBE – not for her sake but for the benefit it will bring to her campaign.
The 35-year-old was widowed in 2015 when her husband Danny Jones died during a rugby league match playing for Keighley Cougars at London Skolars in May 2015.
He had been substituted after feeling unwell and later died from an undiagnosed heart condition.
Mrs Jones, a singer, founded a charity, the Danny Jones Defibrillator Fund. She has turned her family tragedy into a long-term screening programme within Rugby League communities.
Mrs Jones said: “I was absolutely surprised to hear of the honour.
“You could not be anything but shocked to hear such news. Most importantly it will help the campaign. It will raise the charity’s profile.”
She sang at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2015 and at the 2015 Super League grand Final at Wembley.
Meanwhile, Angela Wright, 55, of Wakefield, is honoured with an MBE for foster caring over 18 years, caring for 60 children.
Richard Frank Elam, 44, gets the BEM for services to business and the community in York. Mr Elam is a director of Evora Construction in York. The citation says it is a “successful business on ethical practices, which also provides strong support and opportunities for his local community”.
Ted Lowe, 84, of Woodsetts, South Yorkshire, is executive chairman of Electrical Safety UK Limited. He gets the BEM for services to business and skills in the electrical engineering industry.
He is a respected and successful businessman and he has raised safety standards in the electrical industry in which he has worked in for over 65 years.
Sue Sibbald, 57, of Sheffield, works as a personality disorder peer specialist with Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust and gets the BEM for services to mental health.
She uses her own experiences of mental health difficulties to inspire others, break down stigma and provide treatment.
She was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which involves extreme
emotional sensitivity and interpersonal difficulties.
One of the youngest recipients is Amy Hearn, 36, of Leeds, who gets the BEM for services to libraries.
She has built a reputation among library colleagues as a coordinator and adviser on digital skills.
Meanwhile, Peter Sowray, 78, has been honoured with an MBE for almost 60 years of work on behalf of farmers’ organisations.
Mr Sowray, of Helperby, North Yorkshire, was elected to North Yorkshire County Council in 1989.
The chief executive of the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, Owen Williams, has been awarded the OBE for services to healthcare. He said: “As a working class black lad from Bradford, I am really pleased and honoured to have been recognised for my contribution.”
A number of senior figures working for multi-academy trusts – which run chains of state schools – have been recognised with honours.
They include Carol Ann Dewhurst, chief executive officer of the Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust. Sarah Jane Asquith has been made a member of the Royal Victorian Order for services to the Lieutenancy of the East Riding of Yorkshire.
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